The official Submarine Warfare Group Build 2016 - 2017

That's great Tony, I'll put it back on the roster. I assume you still want the bust on the roster as well?

MC, please roster me in for both. I'm sure to finish at least one of them !

Cheers

Tony

I copied the early Gato bottom drain hole pattern and used it to drill out the missing flood holes. These were easy to duplicate because the erly Gatos had plain circular drain holes. The later production ones had a mix of different shaped ones.

I finally completed all 368 holes that go along the deck lip. I actually drilled them out twice because the first time they were a bit small so I switched to a slightly larger bit.

Went to Hobby Lobby and got the pre routed base and wood finials. I think I have a plan for mounting it to the wood base. 

I hope I'm wrong but I think this guy from Nautilus is giving me the runaround. It's been a month and nothing. He has failed to answer two emails I have sent him asking for a status.

I might just pull the trigger on some 3D weapons from Shapeways. The computer illustrations look very tempting.

Thanks Steve. Check your PMs I sent you one a week back.

I decided to go ahead and order some Oerlikons and a 3"/50 cal. main gun from Shapeways so let's see how that turns out. I have never used 3D printed details so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I just need to leave the shields off the two guns.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/N2C5W5JYK/oerlikon-depressed-mk4-base-usn-x-4-1-144?optionId=59947377

The main gun looks very detailed

https://www.shapeways.com/product/6A7AL96JP/3-inch-50-cal-1-144?optionId=59504941

GM

You mentioned that the stern should have a gap but I found this picture of the Gato and appears to be welded solid to the hull.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/0821239.jpg

PJ, I sent a PM back, thanks,

I purchase 1/350 sailors from Shapeways on occasion. They are very detailed but the material is very brittle so be careful when cutting it.

PJ,

My latest conclusion is that the EB boats like Gato had the tight superstructure to hull joint, the government boats had the gap. I'll keep looking.

I sprayed the U-Boat captain today, this is the base coat, details, highlights and shades to come.

Cheers

Tony

...and I've just primed the U-Boat.

Cheers

Tony

I'm interested in how you paint the bust since I'm so bad at figures. 

Gosh, the more pictures I find and the more research I do on this boat, the more details I find missing from the kit. I just added several grab handles and a bunch of tiny flood holes missing from the stern area along with 2 additional hatches totally missing from the kit. The two missing hatches look to be flush on the deck and may be for air circulation for the diesel motors.  

On a positive note the Shapeways 3"/50 main and 20mm guns are enroute to me so I'm very excited to see the actual details they have. If they are as good as they look on their site, I will be ordering  4"/50 main and single 40mm Bofors to make another Gato Class in 1/144 as a late war refit with the super low cut down fairwater and updated weapons setup. 

I have been keeping an eye out for the Revell 1/72 Gato which has some gorgeous detailed weapons but the darn thing is over 4 foot long! Very big taking lots of display room but very nice and detailed.

Yeah PJ I really want that 1/72 Gato but with its size.... I just can't justify something that big unless I give it away or sell it after.

I'm excited to see all the new goodies you've added to the hull. I'll bet that will really be a sweet build when you’re done. A real show winner! 

Nice work there Tony.

I could not believe the size of the GATO when i saw one next to a Type VII, that thing is seriously big.

Yep, I've got the 1/144 Gato and it's a couple of inches longer than the Type 21 in the same scale.

Steve

I will post some pictures later so you can see the updates.

Bish 

The Gato was way bigger than the German subs but the Japanese I400 was gargantuan.

Hey here's  a thought.. would be nice if ROG came out with a 1/144 Gato scaled down from the larger one. They did it with their U Boats so why not a Gato?

I would love to see a 1/144 I-400.

A "just pre-war" Nautilus or Argonaut with their 6 inchers would be nice in 1/144 too.

plasticjunkie

Steve

I will post some pictures later so you can see the updates.

Bish 

The Gato was way bigger than the German subs but the Japanese I400 was gargantuan.

Hey here's  a thought.. would be nice if ROG came out with a 1/144 Gato scaled down from the larger one. They did it with their U Boats so why not a Gato?

 

O ye, i can believe that. Has their ever been a 72nd I400, i am guessing not.

Bish

O ye, i can believe that. Has their ever been a 72nd I400, i am guessing not.

Oh boy that would be what, around 7ft long?

modelcrazy

 

Bish

O ye, i can believe that. Has their ever been a 72nd I400, i am guessing not.

 

 

Oh boy that would be what, around 7ft long?

 

Really, that size.

I think a big shelf then

400 feet, would work out around 66-67 inches.   About 88 ft longer than the Gatos.

Would have to come by truck shipment in a crate, lol

goldhammer

400 feet, would work out around 66-67 inches.   About 88 ft longer than the Gatos.

Would have to come by truck shipment in a crate, lol

 

Still that's BIG

Yeah.  One of our techs quit and gave the boss a 52" tool box roll cabinet for some of what he owed the boss.  Buying it for my modeling station.  Same length as the 1/72 gato.....looking at it, going "what in the world did I get into with that kit".  I'll probably burn out a couple of Dremels cutting the deck plating out for the Big Ed PE.

Well for what it's worth, I sent my idea to Revell and within 10 minutes I received  a response from Ed Sexton, Revell Inc. saying it sounds interesting and will be discussed at the next meeting.

It would be pretty cool if they decide to release one in 1/144. I know it's going to be way better than Trumpeter's.

Maybe I should suggest the I-400 as well, with some 1/144 Seirans.

What did you use to suggest, email?

modelcrazy

Maybe I should suggest the I-400 as well, with some 1/144 Seirans.

What did you use to suggest, email?

 

I went to their site and used the contact tab.

More research revealed some grab handles and smaller flood holes missing and were drilled using a very thin drill bit. I used thin copper wire bent to shape and CAd in place.

I found a couple of pictures with hatches open around the circled areas on the deck. I'm trying to determine if they were flush to the deck and if they had any exterior open/locking mechanism.

notice the same hatches open

http://navsource.org/archives/08/100/0821246.jpg

It definitely looks like the one on the stern has a wheel. 

I looked at a closeup on my IPad and is a lot clearer than on my desktop ,so figure that one out! Yes the stern one has a wheel and the other two look to be flush with the wood pattern on them and  no wheels on either one.

plasticjunkie

Well for what it's worth, I sent my idea to Revell and within 10 minutes I received  a response from Ed Sexton, Revell Inc. saying it sounds interesting and will be discussed at the next meeting.

It would be pretty cool if they decide to release one in 1/144. I know it's going to be way better than Trumpeter's.

 

If I may, here are a couple of add ons....  The 3 major fairwater versions, those being the original design, the mid war cut down and the late war cutdowns.  Also both versions of the aft end of the fairwater, rounded and the more pointed versions.

Would be nice if they could also do the Balao scope shears, since the hulls were pretty much identical in length and shape.

This could be done with a couple of extra sprues.

Would give the builder plenty of choices to build most any boat of the era, and would be a pretty good seller IMO.  I know I would have at least a couple.